Heathrow Southern Railway And The Windsor Link Railway

Phase 1 of the scheme would run from Slough to Staines, via Chalvey, Windsor, Datchet, Wraysbury and Sunnymeads. A new all-in-one station in the Windsor Goswells would replace the existing two nearby stations (Riverside and Central)

Phase 2 of the project involves linking to Heathrow. As the Heathrow Airtrack scheme has been dropped by BAA, the proponents say a much cheaper method of connecting Heathrow to the north west, west and south would be via a bridge over the M25. This would also have benefits for the proposed intermodal freight depot at Colnbrook, Berkshire.

Phase 1 is mainly a scheme for Windsor and I believe, it could be very beneficial to a town, that will become an even bigger tourist attraction.

It is a scheme, that has no affect on the construction of the Heathrow Southern Railway.

However, if the Windsor Link Railway wanted to increase the frequency of the train service between Windsor and Eton Central and Waterloo, there may well be arguments over who gets the paths on the crowded lines between Staines and London.

Thoughts On Phase 2

If the Heathrow Southern Railway and Windsor Link Railway designed a joint scheme, I don’t believe there is any reason, why trains couldn’t use the Windsor Link Railway to run between Reading and Heathrow.

Related

The biggest problem for increased capacity on the Windsor-Staines line is the level-crossings in Datchet. Increased capacity either means moving them (very difficult) or not all trains stopping at Datchet to reduce the down-time.

I’m not convinced that expensive works and tunnelling to connect two fairly low capacity lines through some of the most valuable land in the country seems impractical. If an orbital London route is the priority, why not just connect Heathrow Southern access to Reading, to provide cambridge-oxford-reading-heathrow-woking-guildford-gatwick routes? Meanwhile the Windsor lines are mostly used by commuters and day-tourists, so a direct connection to Heathrow seems overkill (as they’re only 1 change at Staines away from Heathrow once Heathrow Southern is installed).

As an alternative, has anyone considered running the Windsor and Eton Riverside line as a London Overground service? Could be taken north at Brentford to connect to OOC and Paddington (even through crossrail 1,as there is spare capacity at this end of crossrail) with relatively minor junction changes. That 2tph slot from Windsor to Waterloo can be replaced by 2tph semi-fast Heathrow to Waterloo (aiming to improve connectivity to the south, rather than increasing journey times).

as I see it, phase 1 makes a lot of sense: it seems to have support from the local community/council, would have no need for taxpayer subs, and would generally benefit Windsor by improving the riverside area. What’s not to like?

But I don’t find phase 2 very convincing. lt’s true that approaching Heathrow that way would cost much less than a purpose-built Western Rail Link, but it would hardly be high-speed, not just because of the LC but it’s an extremely winding route. The WRL proposal seems much more sensible. Adding a chord to connect the Windsor line to HSR’s proposed route presumably would not cost much, and would at least provide a diversionary route for engineering works on Slough-W Drayton.

another element of this is the mention of freight. There was discussion of expanding Colnbrook a few years back, but AFAIK this didn’t get anywhere. I believe the existing line (what’s left of the original ‘southern railway’) is used only for fuel deliveries, and AFAICS it has no connection westwards. The Western Rail Link blurb does not mention freight. The existing cargo terminal has no rail connection, and AFAICS the recent cargo strategy https://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Company/Static/PDF/Partnersandsuppliers/cargo-strategy.pdf does not mention rail. But even if LHR wanted to increase rail freight, would running it through Windsor (or Staines or Egham) make sense? I don’t think so.

About This Blog

What this blog will eventually be about I do not know.

But it will be about how I’m coping with the loss of my wife and son to cancer in recent years and how I manage with being a coeliac and recovering from a stroke. It will be about travel, sport, engineering, food, art, computers, large projects and London, that are some of the passions that fill my life.

And hopefully, it will get rid of the lonely times, from which I still suffer.